Happy Scrapbooking Day!

I miss scrapping.  It's been a long time.  I don't know if, or when, I'll ever pick it up again.  I love it, but I don't have the time, space, or money for it.  Most of the time I don't think about it much, but once in a while it strikes me, and today is one of those days.  The first Saturday in May is known as National Scrapbooking Day.

I've had a lot of fun during National Scrapbooking Day in years past.  I think the most fun was the year I was in to digital scrapbooking and I celebrated the day with Digitals and 3Scrapateers.  Every NSD I'm tempted to visit those sites and play again.

I'll miss my laptop tonight

I've been banned from it for the night.  My eldest son and eldest daughter have booked a hotel room for DH and I for the night, with a couple of stipulations, I'm not allowed to take my laptop and he's not allowed to take any fire department work.  Seeing as the playoffs are on, I think they should have added another stipulation - no hockey.  I'm trying to decide if I'll add that stipulation myself or just take a book to read while the game is on.  Hmmmmm.....

When your children ask...tell them

These words, taken from a passage in Joshua, sum up my philosophy of parenting and teaching - when they ask, tell them.

I remember being struck by these words years ago and I was reminded of it again tonight as our pastor's message was taken from Joshua 4.  In the passage, God divides the Jordon river so that the Israelites can cross to the other side on dry land, but He gives special instructions for them to do something while the river is divided.  He tells them to collect stones from the middle of the river bed and to use them to erect a memorial so that when their children ask about it they can tell them about the miracle of the dividing of the Jordon.   I think it is a lesson in the importance of handing down the stories of our faith and walk with God and how "memorial stones" or items can spark our children's curiosity to ask and remind us to tell.

I've taken the words, even further, however, and I've used them as the basis of parenting and teaching my little one.  I haven't set up a structured learning plan for her yet, but I have followed her leading, while at times putting things in her path to see if she wants to explore them.  When she asks questions, I answer them as best I can and try to expand on her curiosity to make the most of her interest, but I stop when the interest is gone.  This method has been working quite well with her so far.

Blech! I hate hockey play-offs

For quite some time now I have been enjoying some peace and quiet and time to myself rather late at night when everyone else is gone to bed.  Lately, however, my time to myself has been interrupted.  I hate it!  There was a time when I loved to watch hockey, but that was over 20 years ago before I married a man that lived and breathed hockey.  Before long I become totally sick off it.  Even then, for many years I still liked to watch the playoffs, but finally there came a point when I couldn't tolerate hockey at all.  This year it seems worse than ever to me.  I really hate it!  It make it that much worse now because it's cutting into my time to myself.  The over time lately is really, really making me want to scream!  I can't wait for it all to be over and done with.  Hence my six words for this Saturday

Hockey play-offs are wrecking my routine!

By the Rivers of Brooklyn by Trudy Morgan-Cole

The first book I read by Trudy Morgan-Cole was Esther: A Story or Courage and I absolutely loved it.  By the Rivers of Brooklyn is only the second book by her that I've read, and while it is nothing like the first, I thoroughly enjoyed it too.

I am a big fan of historical fiction, and, being a proud Newfoundlander, I especially like finding a good historical fiction book that is based in Newfoundland, or about Newfoundlanders.  In By the Rivers of Brooklyn, Trudy Morgan Cole tells the story of three generations with Newfoundland roots, starting in 1924.  The story concentrates mainly on the women, with the men being mostly in the background.  It tells about how many family members had to leave Newfoundland for work and how some never did come back to stay.

The story starts with a girl searching for the illusive trunk in the attic that holds information about her family history.  I think it's something we all do in one way or another.  She never does find the "trunk" but there is a scene near the end of the book that does tie back to the opening scene in a really neat way.

Though totally different from the first book I read by Trudy Morgan Cole, this book, like the first, has left me wanting to read more of her work.

Today is the Launch of the Get To Know Contest

All children/youth ages 19 and under are invited to submit art, writing and photography to the Robert Bateman 2010 Get to Know Contest.  Check out the official Get to Know Contest rules page for information about the prizes and guidelines as to what is expected.  For inspiration and ideas, check out the past winners of the Get to Know Contest.

The idea of the contest is to get the kids outdoors exploring and learning about the world around them.  They have until the 28th of May to submit entries and they can submit as many entries as they like.  So take advantage of the nice days for the next month and a bit and get out and "Get to Know" the amazing world around you.

Today our local homeschool support group went on a hike and I introduced the contest to the children/youth and they set to work right away.  I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with.

I'd love to hear from you if you decide to join in the fun.

God Let's You Choose Your Own Adventure

I had a thought today.  Psalm 139 is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible and the last part of verse 16 is one of my favorite verses.  It says, "All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."  I've always loved that thought.  Before I was born, God wrote the story of my life.  He had it all planned out for me.  One thing I never really understood, however, is how to reconcile that thought with the fact that God has also granted me free will to make choices in my life.  The way I've always reconciled it was to think that God knew me so well He knew which choices I was going to make, so that's how He could write the story of my life before I even started to live.  Today, however, I had another thought.

A nice while back I heard about these Choose Your Own Adventure books where the reading could determine what happened in the story by making choices along the way.  Now, I have to admit that I have never really seen one of these books.  What I've heard and read is that at certain points in the book the reader is asked to make a choice between a couple of ways that the story can proceed and, depending on the choice they make, to turn to certain pages in the book to continue.  The choice they made would determine what happened in the story.

I have always been fascinated with the "if..then" statements in the Bible.  Some great examples can be found in Deuteronomy 11:13-17.  God sets before His people a couple of different paths they can take and tells them the results of each path, and the results are quite different, depending on the choice they make.

My thought today was that maybe when God wrote the story of my life, He wrote it like a Choose Your Own Adventure book.  He gives me choices to make along the way.  The choices I make determine how the story goes.  But He doesn't leave me stumbling along not knowing which way to go.  He provides direction, but it's up to me whether I follow His directions or not.  That's doesn't mean that every path leads to the same ending.  It doesn't.  The ending is determined by the choices I make.  I must choose carefully.

Fun, Colourful Newfoundland Art

 A day or so ago I came across The Grumpy Goat Gallery blog and I spent a lot of time checking out the fun, colourful artwork displayed on it.  Go take a look.  Be sure to read some of the blog posts, too.  They are quite entertaining. The blog, and artwork, is the work of two artists living in Upper Island Cove, Newfoundland and on their blog they extend an open invitation to all to drop by their studio.  How I would love to do that!  Maybe some day.  For now I have to be content with a virtual visit via their blog.

I came across their blog thanks to the Newfoundland and Labrador Blogroll, another site which I very recently discovered.  Being the proud Newfoundland that I am I had to add the blogroll to my reader so that I could discover other Newfoundland blogs to boast about.  The blogroll has a blog of the week feature and I can't wait to see which great Newfoundland blog will be featured next week!

I Don't Like that She Reminds Me of Me

Have you ever seen yourself in a character in a book you read?  That's what's happened to me, and I'm not happy about it.  I don't like this character.  She's a good woman that's been dealt a hard hand in life.  She tries to make the best of it but she makes some big mistakes.  She tries, really tries, to make things right but reaches a point where she doesn't want to try any more.  She becomes bitter and unhappy and she doesn't realize how much it affects those she loves.  I don't want to be like her, but I am.  Is it too late to change?  Can I make up for the damage I've caused?

Straight Out of the Camera

Here's the photo that I used in the banner I created.  This is what it looks like straight out of the camera.

As you can  see, there's isn't much colour in it but I wanted a black and white, with shades of gray colour, scheme for my blog so I totally striped it of all colour before using it in the banner.

post inspired by

Can't wait!

Less than a month before conference!

No more snow...

... at least on my blog, but there was plenty outside my window when I got up this morning.  Blech!  It was snowing and blowing most of the day.  The snow seems to be disappearing fast, though, and I'm hoping we don't get any more.  I'm also happy to finally have managed to clean the snow flakes off my blog.

Here's what it used to look like:

It was a great look for the winter but winter is over, at least it's supposed to be.  :)

I did a lot of playing around with my blog today.  I just couldn't get a background that I like but I'm finally satisfied.  Having said that, however, I don't know how long I will keep this look.  It's okay for now but I might want something more summery for summer.  We'll see.

I created the blog banner using a photo I took a while ago while little one and I were checking out our favorite summer haunt.  The sun was starting to go down and it looked so nice.  While playing around in my graphics program I discovered the tree graphic and thought it went well with the picture.  I used it in the banner and also in the background.  I decided to make the trees white in the background graphic to contrast the tree in the banner and also because the silver birch tree is my favorite tree.  I created a number of different background graphics before I finally settled on one that satisfied me.

So, what do you think?

Working on a new look!

Tonight I managed to find some time to play around and recall out how it was I gave my blog a new, personalized look a while back.  I know it would be so much easier to just use templates that are available but I like to use my own graphics and really personalize it.  I'm not quite ready to publish the new look yet but I do have a new banner designed and hopefully I'll find the time tomorrow to design the new background.  If all goes well my new look should be ready to publish before next week!  Yeah!!

Kind of ironic though, I'm trying to get rid of the snowflakes on my blog while the weather man has forecast snow for us tonight and tomorrow.  Blech!  I love snow and wish we had more this winter but I do not want snow now!  Guess we'll see what happens

A great local band makes the big time!

A big shout out to some friends!  Anyday is a local band that has made the big time - today they went to Nashville!  My girls and I are big fans of theirs.  We go to every concert we can.  My eldest girl took photographs for them at their first concerts.  It was really nice of them to give her a chance to work on something she enjoyed.  The band members have great talent and great hearts.  Check out their music on their website and if you ever get a chance to see them live, don't miss it.  They are great!

How do you choose what CD to buy?

I recently discovered that my daughter chooses which CDs to buy based on how cool the band members look on the CD cover.  Is that weird or what?

Feeling Frustrated

That is how I am feeling, for so many different reasons.  Many of those reasons are related to this blog.  I'm frustrated because I want to update the look and I can't remember how to do what I want to do and I don't have the time at the present to research it and do it.  I'm frustrated because I don't know what I actually want to write here or what the purpose of it is.  A part of me wants to be able to just share whatever I want whenever I want here but another part of me really hesitates because I don't want to give up my privacy.  Yet I feel like I need a place to share some things to get them off my chest.  I always found it helped to write about my feelings but I really don't think that putting them out there for the whole wide world is a good idea.  Some things are meant to be private, but some times I wonder if it would help to let some of it out.  So many frustrations.

Perhaps I should get back to counting my blessings and using Monday as a time to post them.  I certainly wasn't as frustrated when I was doing that.  Hmmm...I need to get back on track and get rid of these frustrations.  I know that airing them all is not the answer.  The answer is to get back on track with all the things that I've gone of track with lately.  See, even writing it out in all this vagueness helped.  It doesn't matter that it might not interested anyone else.  It helped.  Then again, it just might help someone else that might be feeling the same way.  Who knows?

"This is a work of fiction."

Ever read that in the front of a book?  It usually continues with "Any resemblance to any persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental."  There have been a number of times when I've read that and thought, "Yeah, right!  That's a fine way to cover your behind."  And that's really what it is, at least I think.  Trudy Morgan Cole also thinks so.  She says so in the front pages of her book By the Rivers of Brooklyn.

Trudy also reminds as that often "writers mine their own lives for material."  In talking about her book she says "This book, finally, is pure fiction, and its story includes things that really happened in my family and in other people's families and a few things that may never have happened in any family."  I love that honesty, and I think it is true of all fiction books.

BTW, I am enjoying the book and you may find it referred to in a few more blog posts in the future.  I already have another planned out in my head.  :)

Duh!

Stun One!  Forgot to post yesterday!

Living out the Message of Easter

Dear Fallen Leader,

You, of all people, should rejoice in the message of Easter.  It is a message of hope and renewal.  He died to take away your sin and make forgiveness and new life available for you.  It won't be easy.  Even with forgiveness there are still consequences to sin.  Your life will never again be the same.  You have lost things that you can never get back but He can still work through you as you humble yourself and allow Him to do the work.  You cannot do it yourself.  You must lean on Him and learn from Him.  He was wounded and said not a word in His own defense, instead He prayed for others. There are so many others that are hurting because of your fall.  They need your prayers. He took the punishment and allowed the work to be finished, so that God could be glorified in the end.  May you do the same.

I am praying for you, and for your family and all those affected by your fall.

With love,
A fellow sinner




Dear Disappointed and Hurting Comrade,
 
How hard it is to watch your leader fall!  How easy it is to question everything and lose your focus.  You have discovered that one of your leaders is human and prone to err. Don't let that knock you off the course. Look to the cross. God is still God and truth is still truth. The message of the cross is still one of forgiveness and new life and victory over sin, even for your fallen leader.  Will you follow God's example of forgiveness or will you join the masses that will kick him while he's down? Now is your chance to live out the message of mercy and grace.  No, that doesn't mean that you sweep it all under the rug, but it does mean that you leave it all at the cross.  Let God handle it.  Pray for your fallen leader.  He will need it.  Pray for his family.  They will need it.  None of us are perfect.  We all make mistakes and we all need forgiveness.  Thank God that He offers that forgiveness to us all.  May we all do our part to forgive and support one another.

With love,
A fellow disappointed and hurting comrade

Post inspired by the April 8th theme, Happy Easter, for Letters That I'll Never Send.

Minor Hockey Madness

My boys were always involved in Minor Hockey.  They loved it.  I loved parts of it, but I also hated parts of it.  My boys are now 20 and 21 so I haven't been involved for a few years, and I can't say that I miss it at all.

The tales I heard tonight reminded me of the minor hockey madness that I hated.  DH just got back from officiating an end of season minor hockey tournament in a community a few hours away and he was telling me about the wonderful time he had.  It's such a pleasure to have parents and kids and coaches swearing and uttering threats at you.  Not!  Not a pleasure, that is, but that is exactly what he had to put up with, and that is exactly what I don't miss about minor hockey.

I don't understand why there is so much minor hockey madness.  What does it accomplish?  Absolutely nothing. Well, that's not really true.  It does accomplish something.  It teaches kids to disrespect authority and to let loose with whatever emotions they might be feeling at the moment without any thought for how it might affect someone else.  It doesn't have to be that way.  If the coaches and parents would set the example of good behaviour and insist that the kids act the same, there wouldn't be such minor hockey madness.

One of our boys was into hockey big time and it did crazy things to him, but he didn't get away with it.  There were many, many times, when he was quite young, that I made him sit out games and practices for his behaviour and attitude.  I would not allow him to return until he apologized to the team.  I had coaches and parents tell me I was crazy because it was a part of hockey.  My son wasn't impressed with me at the time but recently we chatted about how it helped him develop character.  He still loves his hockey, and he still has to fight to keep control, but he knows how important it is to do so.  He's learned to be aware of when he is starting to slip into the hockey madness and he's learned how to walk away, and still hold his head high.

It's not easy to stand against the crowd and stand for what's right but if more of us did it those that do what is wrong would eventually find it harder to do what is wrong and we might finally get rid of the Minor Hockey madness.  Wouldn't it be nice to be able to enjoy watching your children play hockey and have everybody leave the game feeling proud of the way that every body acted?

Broke Posting Streak

I am bummed.  I have been on a posting streak since the New Year started.  I hadn't missed a day, until this past Sunday.  I had computer trouble and couldn't post.  Missed the next day for the same reason.  I'm bummed.  But I'm trying to get over it.

I'm not sure what I'm most bummed about, breaking my posting streak or all the computer troubles I've had to deal with lately.  But I'm really trying to get over both.

New Bibles!

I finally got a new Bible!  I'd given up taken my old one to church for a while now because pages, and whole sections, were falling out of it so I was always afraid I was going to lose some.  Today I got a new Bible so tomorrow I can finally take a Bible to church again!  I'm so excited.  I like to be able to look up the scriptures that are mentioned and of course I always have my trusty pencil and paper on hand to jot down notes.  I had the pencil and paper even when I didn't have the Bible but it's just not the same.  Sometimes the wrong references are given and I prefer to look up the verse and make sure the reference is right before jotting it down.

Along with my new Bible to take to church, I also got a Chronological Study Bible.  I spotted this Bible last week when I was checking around for a new Bible to take to church and I really, really wanted it.  I was torn because I wanted a new Bible to take to church, but I also wanted this Bible.  Thankfully DH agreed to purchasing both today!

I have followed chronological Bible reading plans a few times in the past, including last year, and I found that it helped me to understand some things better.  What I really like about the Chronological Study Bible is the study notes and features that are included throughout.  I'm thinking this will help even more.

I started reading the introductory pages right away and I've learned so much already!  It's really interesting to read about how they decided on the order they've used in the book.  They make no bones about the fact that there are many different opinions about the correct order and they do not claim that the order they have chosen is the correct order.  I like that.

I'm looking forward to using both my new Bibles.

How about you?  Do you own a Bible?  Do you like to take a Bible to church with you?  Have you ever read the Bible through?  Have you ever read the Bible through chronologically? What is your favorite Bible Reading Plan?  What is your favorite Bible Study tool?

Good Friday

Every year I have good intentions of doing a better job of acknowledging Easter and all that it embodies, but that's as far as it gets.  Oh how I wish I was more like Ann.  She has been posting about Easter for a while and sharing great ideas.  The one that stuck with me the most was the Easter Garden which she posted about in Family Activities to Celebrate Jesus This Easter.  Maybe I'll do better at fulfilling my intentions some year.

April is National Poetry Month

Want some help to celebrate?

A Year of Reading is attempting to post a day about teaching or learning.  If Poem #1- Teaching is any indication, it is going to be well worth checking the blog each day this month.  Go check it out.  It ends with a good question - "Who is guiding you?"

At the GottaBook blog there will be a new children's poem/poet combination posted every day.  His post today - Alice Schertle - Triolets that Trouble my Sleep - has me wanting to find some Alice Schertle books in my library and also wanting to try my hand at a triolet.

Have you found any good resources?

Dreaming of gardens and trouble proof computers

Inspired by spring, the question for I Want...Wednesday #75 is "What do you want to grow?"

I would love to have a beautiful flower garden and a productive vegetable garden.  I am not a gardener, but I am a gardener wanna be - very much so.  You would never know it if you were to visit my yard.  Most of my gardening takes place in my  head.  I would love to have a flower garden that bloomed with color in every season and a vegetable garden that provided us with our favorite fresh vegetables in the fall.  Problem is I have a very, very small yard and I very, very "ungreen" thumb.  I keep saying that some day I'm going to fulfill my dream, and maybe I will if there is gardening in heaven.  :)

They also asked "What else do you want this week?"

Well, after the day I had today I want a trouble proof computer, one that would never, ever gave me any trouble.  I was thrilled last year when my mom and sister surprised me with a laptop, but it has caused me much grief in the little over a year that I have owned it.  For some reason I have to totally reformat it every month or so.  I am no computer expert so I have no idea what causes it to do what it does but at least I have discovered how to reformat and it clears up all my problems, at least for a while.  This is fresh on my mind because I had to reformat again today.

post inspired by the March31st - 

Busy, Busy, Busy

That's what I've been lately, but I'm thoroughly enjoying it!  I've been busy contacting businesses and suppliers about supporting our provincial homeschool conference by sending us information pamphlets and/or catalogs and sample materials for door prizes.  I've sent out over 40 requests!  I've also had some great responses so far.  It's so exciting!  You can check out who has agreed to support us on The CHENL Channel.  I cannot believe how generous some of these people are being!  We are going to have a great display and some great door prizes.  It's so exciting!  I will be updating the list as we get more support.

Our Local Homeschool Heritage Fair

There were a number of interesting presentations in our local homeschool Heritage Fair today.  A primary age student explained a display she had put together about a relative of her's who was a well known midwife.  She spoke clearly and with confidence and was quite interesting.  Another primary age student told us about the birth provinces of his parents and shared memories his father shared with him about growing up in another province.  One junior high student explained his display about the Tsunami of 1929.  Another junior high student clearly explained the proper naming of distant relatives as he pointed out names and pictures from his family tree, which he has traced back many generations.  A couple of senior high students shared their grandfathers' stamp and coin collections and explained how and when stamps and coins first came into use in Newfoundland.

This is the first time we held a heritage fair and it was a learning experience for all of us.  I am fairly certain that we will do it again.  It was a great experience for the children to put together and to do the presentations.  They did a great job.  There were presentations other than the ones I named above but I felt these best embodied what a heritage fair is all about.

I learned about the Heritage Fair program from a fellow homeschooler's blog a year or more ago.  It sounded very interesting so I decided to check it out.  This was the first year that our local homeschool group expressed an interest in participating.  When I went searching for the information again I was disappointed to discover that the Heritage Fair program was going through changes and I had trouble finding information on local fairs and the national fair.  I finally found out that there was not going to be a local heritage fair in our area this year and I'm still not sure if there is going to be a national fair or not, but we decided to go ahead a hold a heritage on our own anyway and I'm really glad we did.

Straight Out of the Camera

A couple of shots I took during a recent walk with my girls.

Inspired by

Great day!

Mother/Daughter time with eldest daughter

Science Lesson Plans from Robert Bateman

I'm discovering all kinds of great things on the "Get to Know" program website.  On the teacher resources page there are a number of lesson plans which include video introductions and PDF files, all available for free!  As the site says, the lessons are geared for grade 4-6 but are easily adaptable for older or younger students.  They can be used as a springboard for all kinds of fun learning.  Be sure to check them out.

Contest for all Canadian children ages 19 and under

Have you heard of the Get to Know Contest?  The contest starts April 22 and ends May 28, but it's never to early to learn all about it and get prepared.  Here's a quote from the site:
"Enter the Robert Bateman Get to Know Contest by submitting art, writing, or photography of your wild neighbors. The goal is to be as creative as possible - so let the natural world inspire you! Go wild with your creation and you could win amazing prizes..." .  
Here are the official rules and information.  Definitely worth checking out.

CHENL Conference on the Rock 2010

I am so looking forward to the Newfoundland provincial homeschool conference!  I love getting together with other homeschoolers.  We are very spread out across our province and I look forward to this annual event when we have the chance to come together for a couple of days.  If you want more information about the conference check out The CHENL Channel.

A Treasury of Jillian Jiggs by Phoebe Gilman

Jillian Jiggs by Phoebe Gilman was a favorite of my first three children.  We read the book often and I had the privilege of sharing it with Little One recently.  She, too, loved it.  On our next visit to the library I came across Jillian Jiggs to the Rescue and couldn't resist bringing it home to share with little one.  What a great book!  We loved it!  I remembered also reading The Wonderful Pigs of Jillian Jiggs to my first three children so I looked for that the next time we went to the library.  I didn't find it but I was delighted to find A Treasury of Jillian Jiggs in our local library during a recent visit.

The Treasury is a collection of all five of Gilman's books about the Jillian Jigg character - the three mentioned above as well as Jillian Jigg's and the Surprise and the Jillian Jiggs and the Great Big Snow.  Also included is background information on each of the books and clues of things hidden in the books.  It would make a great addition to any book shelf.

Phoebe Gilman moved to Canada in 1972 and married and settled in Canada.  She died August 2002.  She considered herself as more of an artist than a writer and she did the illustrations for all of her books.  Her first book was The Balloon Tree, which I am yet to read, but will definitely be looking for.  She also wrote 5 other books, besides the ones already mentioned here.  We already read The Gypsy Princess but have yet to find and enjoy the other 4 titles.

Phoebe Gilman did a really neat thing.  In each new book that she wrote, she included some kind of pictorial reference to all her previous books.  It is fun to look for those in the books.

I wouldn't want a world without blue

I was struggling with what to write today so I checked out The Daily Meme and discovered the Manic Monday meme.  Each Monday there are three questions posed for you to answer.  I was drawn especially to the second question in today's post Manic Monday #204 and first I was only going to answer that question, but the more I thought about it the more I thought I'd share my thoughts for each question.

What do you value most in other people?
My first reaction to this one is honesty, but then I realized that while I do value honesty, I don't like how brutal some people are in their honesty.  Honesty is very, very important to me, but it must be tempered with humility and respect.

If you could only see black and white except for one color, what color would you choose to see?
Black and white happen to be my favorite colours so my gut reaction to this question was why do you need another colour.  Then I thought about how good it does look at times to have a splash of colour mixed in with black and white and how often the colour I choose to splash in is red, because I really like those three colours, especially together.  Then, however, I started thinking about what it would actually be like if I could really only see black and white and one other colour and I realized that the other colour I would really want is blue.  There is nothing that makes my day like seeing a beautiful blue sky, and I certainly wouldn't want to see nothing but a grey sky, so I would choose to keep the colour blue.

You have a 10 minute speech to give at a high school, what is it about?
I would read Psalm 139 and talk about how God knows them inside and out, and yet still loves them, and is always there for them.  I will tell them that God knew them from the beginning, before they were born, and He  wrote out a plan for them that He is longing for them to fulfill.

Hold Your Tongue

When words are many, sin is not absent,
but he who holds his tongue is wise.
Proverbs 10:19

Dress rehearsal for dance recital today!

What fun Little One had!  Just two more days before the big event!  She's so excited!

My six words for today is the title of this post:

Dress rehearsal for dance recital today!

Dear "News" Reporters

Dear "News" Reporters,

Why do you choose to destroy people's personal and professional lives?  Yes, I know that there are sick people in the world that love a juicy bit of gossip to munch on and share with everyone around them, but why do you feed that sickness.  Yes, I'm sure it drives up your ratings because people love that kind of stuff, but in my mind it also drives down your credibility and professionalism.  Do you even stop to think about how you would feel if it was your family that was being thrown to the dogs?

I have a suggestion.  The next time you get a story about someone, before you actually put together a report look at the story from all angles.  Put yourself in the shoes of the spouse, children, parents, and siblings of the person.  Be sure you consider how your report is going to affect them.  By all means present the facts, but be sure you have all the facts, and present them with respect for all involved.

It is a sick world that we live in, but let's all work together to heal the world, not to spread the sickness by presenting bits and pieces of stories without any consideration for how these bits and pieces can destroy lives.

Hungry for reporters with Heart,
Jacqueline

Inspired by

Fancy hair dos

If you have a girl with long hair, or even semi long hair, check out Adopt a 'Do - Cute Girls Hair Styles.  I discovered the site thanks to my friend, Carla, but no, she didn't post about it on her cooking blog.  :)

I love, love, love playing with hair and trying different styles.  Unfortunately, neither one of my girls have ever enjoyed letting me do things with their hair.  I have managed to try some fancy french braids and tied weave looks over the years but not near as often as I'd like to.

Yesterday I was checking out the videos showing how to do some of the hairstyles on the site and Little One wanted to see.  She thought they looked really cute and today she asked me to do her hair for her!  I was thrilled.  We tried the Twist Backs into Side Ponytail and it looked really cute.  It was a little messy because Little One's hair is layered and not that long, and she also was quite wiggly while I was doing it, but we were both fairly please with the results.  I'd never done a twist style before so that's why I decided to give it a try. It was easy and fun to do and I can definitely see doing it again.

Chocolate Tasting Party

That's what I had at my house tonight, and we  had a great time!  A little while back my sister sent me a link to an article about chocolate tasting parties.  I am a chocoholic and she knew I would love the idea.  Right away I decided that when it was my turn to host the homeschool moms fun night, it was going to be a chocolate tasting party.  Tonight was the night.

Our evening started with a fellow homeschooling friend, who also happens to make and sell her own chocolates, joining us via Windows Messenger.  Linda lives a six hour drive away so it wasn't possible for her to join us in person but this was the next best thing.  With the help of her daughter she demonstrated how to make a chocolate bowl, chocolate lattice, hollow chocolate molds and filled molds.  She also showed us some of her beautiful chocolate creations.  You can check out some of her creations at Candy Box Creations.  Earlier I had made arrangements to purchase some of Linda's creations to share with the moms at the party.  I have pictures which I will post later.

I had asked that each of the moms bring their favorite chocolate bar or treat to the party and be prepared to share why it was a favorite.  As each mom shared, we cut the bar or treat into little pieces so that everyone could get a taste.  We had Lindor dark chocolate, lindor milk chocolate, Cadbury Dairy Milk Fruit and Nut, Bounty, Snickers, and Cherry Blossom.

To balance out all the chocolate, I decided to end the evening with some fruit.  I had prepared a chocolate fondue for the fruit but by then we all had our full of chocolate so we just munched on some fruit.

It was a very fun evening!

Slow Cooker Barbecue Ribs

This is my adaption of this Slow Cooker Barbecue Ribs recipe  . It's a favourite at our house and I often make it for potlucks. I have a big slow cooker so I make a big batch.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cut 2 big packs of pork ribs into sections.
Put ribs on cookie sheet with sides, or in shallow baking pan.
Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and Montreal spice. Put in oven for 15 minutes.
Turn ribs over and season other side. Put in oven for another 15 minutes. Drain fat.

In a medium bowl mix:
3 cups ketchup
3/4 cup BBQ sauce
3/4 cup chili sauce
3 Tbsp vinegar
3 teaspoons oregano
3 teaspoons worcestershire sauce

Place ribs in slow cooker. Pour sauce over ribs. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours.

Every time I send my husband to the grocery store he comes home with at least one pack of ribs.  It's his way of ensuring he gets these often.  :)

In the beginning God created...

So begins the Bible, and so begins the debate.  Creation vs evolution.
I actually struggled with the idea of posting on the topic because it tends to bring out the nasties, and I usually try to avoid conflict but I'm going to take a chance and hope for the best.  :)

I was recently introduced to The Creation Ministries of Ian Juby and had the privilege of meeting Ian and sitting in on a few of his presentations.  If you ever get the chance, don't miss it.  If you don't get the chance to sit in on a presentation, at least take the time to check out his website. He will make you think, no matter what your beliefs are.

Do not take advantage of each other

These words stood out to me today during my Bible reading.

Leviticus 25:17 "Do not take advantage of each other, but fear your God. I am the LORD your God."

If only we all followed those words of wisdom.  What a wonderful world we would have.

And more wise words along the same lines

Philippians 2: 3 "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves."

Yes, what a wonderful world we would have.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Greatest birthday gift - everyone is home!

A Time to Surrender by Sally John and Gary Smalley

I didn't realize when I picked it up from the library, but A Time to Surrender is actually the third book in the Safe Harbor series by Sally John and Gary Smalley.  I really enjoyed the book and will be keeping on eye out for the other two.

This is my first book by Sally John, but I have read other books by Gary Smalley, both ones he wrote on his own and ones he co-authored.  The fact that he co-authored this book was part of the draw for me, but I will also be looking for more books by Sally John in the future.  I enjoyed the writing style, as well as the content.

This book spoke to me on so many levels.  Characters are struggling with their relationships with one another and with God.  I could relate to many of the struggles.  I learned a lot from their struggles.  One interesting point of view is the military wife that is not sure how she feels about being a military wife.  While I can't relate in any way to being a military wive, I do have friends that are military wives and I had never thought before about some of the struggles they way face.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone.

Look Who Lives in the Arctic by Alan Baker

I absolutely love this book!  The design of this book is so great!  Look Who Lives in the Arctic is a great book for a study on the Arctic, specifically arctic animals.  It is engaging enough for a preschooler but can be used to prompt further learning for an elementary student.  One site gives it a reading level of ages 4-8.

Apparently this is one of 4 books in a series of "Look Who Lives In" books, with there being one about the Desert, the Ocean, and the Rainforest.  I will definitely be trying to get my hands on the others.

Winter of Peril: The Newfoundland Diary of Sophie Loveridge by Jan Andrews

I picked this book to read because I needed a book with the word "winter" in the title for the 2010 Reading Through the Seasons Challenge.  I wasn't far into the book before I remembered that I had read it before, I think as a read aloud to the kids.

Winter of Peril is part of the Dear Canada Historical Fiction series which was written specifically to interest young girls in the history of their country.  It is, as the subtitle indicates, written in the format of a diary and tells the story of the beginning of a settlement in Newfoundland in 1721.

February Reading Round Up

I only managed to read 4 books for myself in February, and even 2 of them were juvenile books.  I'm finding it a little hard to fit in time for my reading, but I am keeping up with challenge of reading 100 books a month to Little One.  I started a blog to record the books I read with her.  You can go there to check out the titles of the 95 library books and 5 of our own books that we Read in February.

All of the books I read for myself this time came from the library.  Clicking on the titles will bring you to my posts about the books.

Made in Canada by Mary Graham Bonner

On the Way Home by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Eyewitness Weather by Brian Cosgrove

Nursery Rhymes of Newfoundland and Labrador by Robin McGrath

I actually posted reviews on my blog of some of the books that I read to Little One because they counted towards some of the 2010 reading challenges that I'm working on.

Perfect Snow by Barbara Reid
One is Canada by Maxine Trottier
What Will the Weather Be by Linda DeWitt
Young Author's Day at Pokeweed School by John Bianchi

Post inspired by 

On letting kids go

Love this quote from A Time to Surrender by Sally John and Gary Smalley:

"Claire smiled.  When she told Max she hoped the "boomerangs" would never leave for good, she only half teased.  Yes, the kids needed to spread their wings and fly, but the thing was, her mama's heart sang whenever one of them paid a visit to the nest.  Arias resounded if they stayed overnight.  Entire operas poured forth if all of them were there together at the same time."

I can relate to Claire.  I only have one that has officially flown the nest yet.  Another was gone for a while but is back and forth right now.  Another will be spreading her wings in a year or so.  I love watching them spread their wings and fly, but I also love when they decide to fly back to the nest for a visit, and there's nothing better than having them all here together at the same time.  I don't think that will ever change.

Do what you are supposed to do

Every once in a while I'm in the middle of saying something to one of my children when I have this "ding, ding, ding" moment. It's in those moments that the lights go on as God teaches me a lesson.

I had one such moment recently. Little One wanted to do something that I was doing, she always does, but this particular time there were a couple of reasons why I wouldn't let her: 1) she wasn't really ready to take on the task - it was beyond her abilities at the moment 2) I had asked her to do something else but she hadn't bothered to do what I asked . I was in the middle of saying to her "If you were obedient in doing what you were supposed to do you might be more likely to get to do what you want to do, but you have to do what you are supposed to do first." Ding! The lights went on for me. I felt like God was telling me the same thing.

Lord help me to be faithful in doing what is before me to do - to be a good wife and a good mother - and to not keep asking to do things that are beyond me at the moment. Help me to realize what is truly important

Luke 16:10 "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much."

Being a Mom is Hard Work

Earlier this week, on a particularly rough day, I posted on my facebook status that being a mom is hard.  I got a lot of agreement from a lot of moms.  I also got a couple of comments that I thought were pretty neat.  One friend said "My mom keeps telling me that the good Lord would not give us more than we could handle! I tell ya, he got more faith in me than I do!" and another said "My Pop says if parenting is easy, you're not doing it right... and that is so true!"
Later in the week I changed my status to "Being a Mom is hard, but I wouldn't trade it for all the world. I love my children with all my heart and I can't imagine life without them."

Today was another tough day so my six words this Saturday are:

Being a Mom is hard work!

Iditarod 2010 starts in the morning!

I'm so excited!  In case you don't know what the Iditarod is I'll tell you in brief - it is an annual 1150 mile dogsled race in Alaska.  It starts the first weekend in March and runs about 10 to 17 days.  This year is the 38th year for the race. You can learn more about the history of the Iditarod at the official Iditarod website.  There are a few mushers that have caught my eye this year. I'll tell you more about them in a minute.

I first learned about the Iditarod two years ago and wrote Following the Iditarod, in which I shared how I learned about it, and Still Enjoying the Iditarod, in which I shared some things I found interesting in learning about the Iditarod.  I now that I was working on posts about last years race but I don't think I ever actually posted them.

I love following this race!  There are always so many great stories that come out of it.  There's also a lot of opportunities for fun learning around the Iditarod.  Walter McKenzie has developed The EIditarod Project to help educators make the most of learning opportunities.  One of the things that Walter suggests is to get to know the mushers and pick one in particular to claim as your musher as you follow the race.  I can never manage to narrow it down to just one musher to watch.

Every year I like to keep track of the Canadians that are involved in the race.  This year there are 8 Canadians, 2 of which are rookies and 2 of which are females. Clicking on the names will bring you to the biographies.  Last year's second place winner, Sebastian Schnuelle (39) is one of the Canadians involved this year.  The Canadian females include veteran Karen Ramstead (45) and rookie Michelle Phillips.  The other rookie is Hank Debruin (47) and he's joined by veterans Hans Gatt (51), Gerry Willomitzer (39), Warren Palfrey (34), and Ross Adam (57).

I also like to follow mushers that have a homeschooling connection.  In an acceptance speach for an award a couple of years ago veteran Ramey Smyth (34) mentioned that he was homeschooled by his mom, who was also a musher.  I assume his brother, veteran Cim Smyth (33), was also homeschooled.  Veteran Mitch Seavey (49) and his wife Janine homeschooled their children.  Dallas Seavey (22) is one of their children and is classed as a veteran because this is not his first time running the Iditarod.

Another musher that catches my eye each year is female veteran DeeDee Jonrowe (56).  It just amazes me that she's still participating.  I think she is one brave, tough lady.

This year there's another musher that has caught my eye - rookie Newton Marshall (26) is from Jamaica!

I'm really looking foward to following the race over the next couple of weeks and see how these mushers do.

Advice to Newly Weds

Dear Head Over Heals in Love,

Get a nice piece of paper and something comfortable to write with.  Sit down in a comfortable place to write.  Write out what you love about your spouse and why you wanted to marry.  Fold the note carefully and store it in a safe, easily accessible place.  

Believe it or not there will probably be days when you will wonder what you ever saw in your spouse and why you ever wanted to get married.  On those days it will be good to be able to pull out your note and remind yourself of how you feel today.

inspired by the March the 4th cue at 

Perfect Snow by Barbara Reid and our plasticine pictures

The Golden Goose is the first book by Barbara Reid that I read and noticed her amazing plasticine illustrations.  That sent me on a search for more books by her.  The search eventually led me to Perfect Snow, a book little one and I really enjoyed.  The illustrations in the book are amazing!


While talking to Little One about how amazing the illustrations were and the fact that they were made with plasticine, which is something like playdough, I thought that it would be fun to try our hand at making pictures with playdough.  I decided to try to find out more about Barbara Reid and her illustrations and a google search lead me to Barbara Reid's website - what a great find!  I was thrilled to discover that she had videos showing how to make plasticine pictures.  The girls and I watched the videos and were even more excited about trying it for ourselves.

I didn't have any plasticine so I decided to make playdough, using this cooked playdoh recipe from a friend, and try it with that.  Here's what we created:

Little One's creation (age 4)

Mom's creation 

Sis's creation (age 17)

We had fun and were pretty pleased with our creations but we wanted to give plasticine a try so we made a trip to the local dollar store and got some Crayola Modeling Clay.  The modeling clay was much better to work with.  Here's what we created with it:

I printed off the picture and Little One filled it in with plasticine.  We only had four colors but I did some mixing to get other colors.

Little One drew a picture of her doll and then filled it in with plasticine

Sis did this beautiful scenery from her head.  It's a row boat in the water on a sunset evening and there's a moose almost up on the shore.

I pointed out the Barbara Reid books to our librarian and suggested doing a Barbara Reid themed story hour and having the children make plasticine pictures.  It went over quite well!  Here's what Little One made at the event:

I see many more hours spent enjoying Barbara Reid books and playing with plasticine in our house in the future.

On the Way Home: The Diary of a Trip from South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri, in 1894 by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Found this book while perusing the shelves at our local library and thought it might make an interesting read.  I can't decide if I was right or not.  It was kind of interesting, but kind of boring too.  It is classed as a children's book and is a good example of diary entries.  I could see using it to introduce children to the idea of keeping diaries.

I thought it was going to be interesting because I had been a fan Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series but I should have known that it wasn't going to be the same.  There's quite a difference in novel writing and diary writing.  It was kind of interesting to read about what life was like for them in the 1894 during their travels but there really wasn't anything exciting about it.  Then again, it is a diary, not a novel.

So, I did kind of enjoy On the Way Home: The Diary of a Trip from South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri, in 1894 by Laura Ingalls Wilder, but it's not a book I would likely recommend to anyone looking for an interesting book to read.

A Brand New Month - time to evaluate

At the beginning of each month I tend to slip into this evaluating mode.  I take some time to look at the past  month - what I've done, what I wish I'd done differently, etc.  Then I look ahead to the coming month and think about things I'd like to change and things I'd like to accomplish in the coming month.  I always find there's lots of room for improvement.  :0)

One thing I have to work on soon is a new look for my blog.  We didn't get much snow yet this winter but DH informed me that there is snow in the forecast for the next few days so maybe I'm safe in leaving the snowy look on my blog for another little while, but I will be working on a new spring look in the next couple of weeks.

Something I started working on last month but will be working on more this month is a new blog - Anna's Adventures. Antics, and Activities.  Today I actually finally published what I've done there so far.  In the Blog Plan and Explanation post I shared that I created the blog specifically to keep track of, and share, the books Little One and I read together for the 100 Books a Month Challenge, but I may throw in additional posts from time to time.  I'm thinking it may end up being where I record Little One's learning journey.  We'll see.


So, that's some of my thinking today.  There's lots more that I'm not sharing but some of it may come up in future posts. How about you?  Do you find yourself evaluating a planning at the beginning of the month?

Talented Teens

Tonight the youth led the worship in our church service, and what a great job they did!  Their choice of songs showed respect and consideration for the fact that there are a lot of different preferences of musical styles represented in our church, and yet they managed to make it all flow together beautifully.  It is such a pleasure to see them using their talents to bring glory to God.

Not Thursday, but inspired by

Sooooo Tired

My six words for today:

Partied out.  Need some sleep now.

I am posting this at almost one in the morning, but I will be fudging with the time thanks to the Post Options so that it will seem like I posted it before midnight.  I was out partying past midnight tonight.  Actually our whole family was, Little One included.  Little One had a great time with all the teenagers.  Should be fun times tomorrow!  Not!  A friend had invited the family to her daughter's sweet 16 party and we had great fun, but I am oh so tired.  I have been feeling extra tired all week and tonight just did me in.  Have to clue up and head to bed, but it has been a great day!

What Will the Weather Be? by Linda DeWitt

Little One and I really enjoyed What Will the Weather Be?.  It is a great way to introduce weather concepts.  There is a lot of material packed into the little book and we will need to revisit it many times to wrap our heads around it all but we loved it so much that revisiting it will not be a chore.  I'm definitely adding it to my science resource list for the next few years.

Nursery Rhymes of Newfoundland and Labrador by Robin McGrath

I picked up this book during a recent visit to our local library thinking that it might be a book I could share with my little one.  In light of that, I found this quote from the introduction interesting: "Contrary to popular belief, nursery rhymes are not written by or for children - they are generally part of the adult world and are co-opted by children who appreciate their simplicity or are merely fascinated by the enigmatic sound of the words."   While there are rhymes in Nursery Rhymes of Newfoundland and Labrador that I would share with little one there are some that I wouldn't and I'm glad I decided to read it myself before sharing it with her.

Robin McGrath did not actually write the poems in the book but she did compile and edit them.  There is a fair bit of history packed into the rhymes and I found it interesting to read.  I like the addition of the notes at the end of the book, though I would have preferred the notes actually included by the rhymes they are about. The notes make the rhymes more meaningful.

Made in Canada by Mary Graham Bonner

Came across this book while browsing the art section of our local library.  It's an old book, published in 1953, but I really enjoyed it.  There was a lot of history packed in the book.  It was very interesting to read about, and see pictures of, artwork of first nations people as well as settlers.  I have a bunch of notes made of things I want to research and learn more about.

I want to know more about  Sis-hu-lk, also known as Francis Baptiste, a member of the Okanagan First People's nation.  In the book I learned that he won a bronze star in 1936 from the Royal Drawing Society of London for his artwork titled "Canadian nativity".  From the 1940 page of the Drawing on Identity: Inkameep Dayschool and Art site I discovered that he also won a gold medal for his contribution to Canadian culture and that in 1940 he started signing his work with his Indian name.  You can see pictures of him and some of his other work sprinkled throughout An Inkameep Photo Album.

I'd also like to know more about Francois Baillairge, who Mary Bonner says is Canada's foremost woodcarver and sculptor.  I found an online gallery displaying some of Francois Baillairge's work.

And that's just some of the things I want to learn more about.  I am very glad that I picked up this book.  I'd love to own it.

Using Talents as Intended

Today I got to listen to the beautiful sounds of my talented daughter playing her guitar and singing hymns and choruses in preparation for leading the worship time at the our church's adult prayer meeting tonight.  She was a little shocked when her youth pastor called this morning and asked her to do it and when she told me about it she said she felt sick to her stomach thinking about it, but she overcame that and set to work preparing.  I thoroughly enjoyed listening to her prepare.  Unfortunately her dad and I had other commitments tonight and didn't get to go to hear first hand how she did but when we went to pick her up a lady made the point of tapping on our window and telling us that we have a very talented daughter.  I love that she is using her talents to bring glory to God.  I pray she always does.

A couple of days early but inspired by

Young Authors Day at Pokeweed Public School by John Bianchi

This is great book to use as part of a special week of reading and writing. The book tells about just such a week at Poke Weed Public School, where the teacher, Ms Mudwortz shows the importance of reading with FRED (Free Reading Every Day).  I used to do the same thing with my older children when they were younger but I never thought to give it a cool name.  Little One got a kick out of the illustration showing all the students of Pokeweed Public school enjoying their FRED time.  Ms. Mudwortz also has a Young Author's Week where the first day is writing day.  The students have to start with an idea, come up with a beginning, a problem, and a solution).  The second day is picture day when the students turn words into pictures and do illustrations for their book.  The third day is Book Day when they create a title and cover for their book and then bind it all together.  The fourth day is RAT (Read Aloud Time), because as Ms. Mudwortz says, "A book is just a bunch of paper stuck together until someone reads it".And the last day is  Young Authors Day when they have a visit from an author and are surprised to find he is so different from how they imagined.

Inspired by 

He forgives... and erases... when we confess

It's a truth that has always amazed me.  Forgiveness is freely available.  Completely free.  Completely freeing.  All we have to do is confess.  That's sometimes the toughest part - the confessing.  And the letting go, really letting go and letting it be erased as He wants it to be.  Sometimes that's hard too.

In her post When a Family Needs a Fresh Start: Making a Place of Repentance, Ann explains a way to make it so real and vivid.  It makes me wish again that we had a prayer bench in our house to set up such a thing.

Six Words Saturday

Fun at WinterFest with Little One!

Clowns, balloon creations, magician, face painting, Teddy Bear Picnic!

What a great day!

Tinkering with my blog layout a little

I wanted to add a record of my progress in the different reading challenges to my blog somewhere but couldn't decide how to do it.  I finally decided to do it by adding link list gadgets for each challenge in the sidebar.  I decided to go with link list gadgets rather than just list gadgets because I wanted to link to my posts about the books. I would really like the different challenge gadgets to be in alphabetical order but I am having real trouble moving them around.  I had to give up because I was getting so frustrated. I may try again another time. I've added some books to the gadgets already but I still have more to record yet.  Once I get caught up I will continue to update each gadget as I read books for the different challenges.

I also changed the way my archives and labels are displayed.  The reason for this is so that they would take up less room.  The archives are now available through a drop down menu rather than a list.  I decided to not display some labels and to change the display to a cloud rather than list.

I'm done playing for tonight.  What do you think about the changes?

Not even on the shelves, and already on my to-be-read list

According to Trudy Morgan-Cole's post Titles: What's In a Name?, Lydia: A Story of Philippi  is expected to hit the shelves late March.  She ought to know.  She is the author.

I definitely want to get my hands on a copy ASAP.  I've only read one of her books so far, Esther: A Story of Courage, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I'm thinking this newest book will be just as pleasant an experience.  I'll let you know for sure when I read it.

In her blog post, Trudy gives a glimpse of how a book gets it's name.  Very interesting.

One is Canada by Maxine Trottier

I just finished reading One is Canada to Little One.  I did not particularly enjoying reading the book but Little One was quite smitten by the illustrations.

The book was illustrated by Bill Slavin and we were part way in the book when Little One exclaimed "He is a good drawer!  Who drew the pictures?"  She is 4, remember, and I was a bit shocked with this exclamation.  I hadn't noticed the pictures at all.  I turned to the front of the book and told her the illustrators name and continued reading the book, but I kept getting interrupted with her exclamations about how great the pictures were.  At one point she exclaimed, "I have to tell him he's a good drawer."  :)  I think I'm going to have to look for more books illustrated by Bill Slavin.

Maxine Trottier, though not born a Canadian, became a Canadian citizen in 1974.  She lives in my home province, Newfoundland and Labrador.  I skimmed a list of her books and I will be making a point of checking out more of them.

This book caught my eye during our recent library visit because it is a Canadian book and it is a book about numbers.  I've been making a conscious effort to expose Little One to numbers and math concepts lately because it's something I haven't really put much effort into so far.  As I said earlier, however, I did not enjoying reading the book.  After reading it I read on the inside flap of the dust cover on the book that it is "a rhythmical read-aloud".  It may just be me, but I didn't find it rhythmical at all. Having said that, however, I do think I will go back to this book again.  There is a lot of history and geography wrapped up in this picture book.  It would make a great jumping off point for further learning.

This book counts towards the following reading challenges:  Canadian Authors Challenge, Newfoundland Authors, and Young Readers Challenge

Starting to Read

Little one read her very first sentence totally on her own today!  She is 4 years old and I haven't really worried much about teaching her anything yet.  I take advantage of opportunities that come up in the day but I have not been following any kind of structured plan.  She has always loved books and being read to and pretending to read herself but today she actually read a sentence all by herself.

A while back a friend introduced me to the Learn to Read with phonics Starfall.com site and little one has been having fun with it for quite some time now.  She's spent hours on the ABC alphabet Phonemic Awareness page. She often asked me to let her play on it and I'd set her up to play on my laptop at the kitchen table while I was busy doing kitchen chores.  When I'd finish my chores I'd have to drive her away from the site because she wanted to stay on it.  She really loved it, and I knew she was learning so I loved it too.

Today I decided to give the next level a try and introduced her to the Learn to Read section of the site.  Instead of setting her up to go to it on her own I stayed by her to guide her a bit.  She played the "an" and "at" parts in section 1.  She loved it and did really well!  I got her to read the words herself after she had completed it and she printed of the sheets that went with it and did those too.  Then we decided to give the Zac the Rat book a try.  I love how it is set up!  Each page has a short sentence and you can click on each word to have it sounded out and then read.  I guided her to ensure that she did them in the right order and after hearing each word read I got her to read it herself.  After doing this for the first few pages she was noticing that some of the words were the same and she was starting to just read the words instead of clicking on them to hear them sounded out and read first!  First it was just with a word or two but then she finally came to a page where she didn't bother to click on any of the words at all but just simply read the whole sentence!  Of course we had to have a little high five celebration at that.  I was so proud of her, and she was pretty proud of herself.  She wanted to keep going on the site and try out some more but I didn't want to overload her so I just let her play on it on her own for a bit before finally talking her into leaving it for the day. We did print the Zac the Rat book and she wanted to read it tonight before bed.  She couldn't remember a lot of it but that's okay.  We'll probably play on the site again this week to refresh her memory.  I will be following her lead and using this site as she shows an interest in it.  I am certain it won't be long before she'll be zipping right along in her reading.

Eyewitness Weather by Brian Cosgrove

This is the first book I've read to count towards the Science Book Challenge.  Eyewitness Weather is a Dorling Kindersley book.  I definitely want to use this book later as part of little one's science learning.  On the Amazon site the School Library Journal suggests it is a great resource for grades 5-8.  I love all the pictures and explanations of the different weather instruments used throughout the years.  It's history and science all wrapped up together.  A great resource!

Help me to love as I ought

Prayer based on 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Lord, help me to be patient, help me to be kind. Help me not to envy, not to boast, not to be proud.  Help me not to be rude, not to be self-seeking, not to be easily angered, not to keep a record of wrongs.  Help me not to delight in evil but to rejoice in the truth.  Help me to always protect, always trust, always hope, always persevere.

Doctoring Blog Post Times This Week

That's what I've been doing, I confess!  :)  I've set a goal for myself to post a least once a day but this week it's been after midnight each night when I finally get around to posting so I'm been taking advantage of the Post Options feature on blogger and setting the date and time of my posts back an hour or so earlier than what it actually is when I post them.  I figure it's not really wrong to do because it is still the same day for me in that I post before I go to bed.  Am I just fooling myself?  :)

So my Six Words for this Saturday is the blog title: Doctoring Blog Post Times This Week

I'm hoping to get on a better schedule and not have to do that next week.  We'll see what happens.